Current Developments in Turkish Tourism

This article reviews some of the developments which, since 1980, have taken place in the tourism industry of Turkey. Also possible future state of Turkey tourism were discussed. The topics are placed in their political, economic and institutional context. The focus is on foreign visitors. Visitor characteristics, popular destinations and the problems facing the tourism industry are discussed. Tourism, particularly in developing countries, can provide important contributions to economic and social development. In Turkey, tourism has made a great contribution to economic and social development, since 1980s. However, in Turkey the development of tourism in the form of mass tourism has led to a variety of environmental problems. For this reason, recent times changes have occurred in the country's tourism policy and strategy. The future, for the increase social, economic and environmental positive aspects of the Turkey tourism, constituted to various attempts. Accordingly visitor profile of Turkey is likely to increase rather specialized interest groups. Such developments increases the tourism market of alternative destinations such as mountainous and cultural-heritage and pilgrimage areas. This is also encourage domestic tourism. Also various tourism policies are needed to improve tourism infrastructure, promote the integration of tourist services, maintain visitor numbers and encourage guests to stay longer, visit 816 Ayşe OKUYUCU additional locations and increase tourists spending. This is carried out by the joint of efforts particularly the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other stakeholders.

1999

This paper reviews the various aspects of international tourism development in Turkey. In this regard, it begins with a general profile of Turkey including its location, geographical regions, climate, population, political system and administration, and its international relations. Then, it examines economic policies and the recent socioeconomic indicators of the country. Subsequently, the paper deals with the development and the importance of tourism in the Turkish economy. It looks at the demand and supply aspects of tourism in Turkey. It also considers public policies and institutions that have been coping with international tourism in Turkey. Consequently, it ends with a general examination of the problems of the Turkish tourism development and makes a few recommendation in order to develop more stable international tourism. Keywords: Tourism; development; developing countries; impacts; Turkey.

Contemporary Studies and Theories in Tourism, 2024

2016

Five-year development plans prepared by the Ministry of Development, formerly known as State Planning Organization (SPO), are the main policy documents indicating the growth Turkey will realize in economic, social and cultural fields in the long-term. Tourism is one of the elements to be considered in the development of a country. A country’s tourism policy is first prepared in the development plans. While preparing the tourism policy, precautions towards all kinds of tourism activities are referred. The existing state of the tourism and the state it should be are given. Tourism activities are continuously diversifying. The purpose of this study is to reveal the tourism policies in the development plans, to determine the existing state of the tourism sector and the targets for future. Also, another purpose is to emphasize the problems the sector faces as well as possible problems that could arise in the future. Suggestions are given towards these problems.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the tourism policies of Turkey in the period of planned development which started in 1963. It is a descriptive study in terms of purpose and a qualitative study in terms of data. The data were obtained from secondary sources and analyzed using descriptive analysis technique. According to the five-year development plans and the Tourism Strategy of Turkey 2023 document, Turkey's tourism policies have been created economically. In particular, the first four plans have often emphasized the economic orientation of tourism and mass tourism. The fifth plan highlighted the diversification of tourism, while the sixth plan highlighted the participation of the local community in tourism. The seventh plan aims to meet the expectations of local people and tourists with a competitive and productive tourism economy. The eighth, ninth and tenth plans have emphasized that the investments paying attention to physical and cultural environment should be supported for spread of tourism all over the country and year. Moreover, in the last three development plans and Tourism Strategy of Turkey-2023 document, the participation of different stakeholders in decision mechanisms and focusing on the tourism types generating more tourism revenue policies have been adopted.

Expectations of tourists have changed because of factors shaping new tourism demands like socio-economics, technology, psychology and others. This creates new alternatives, namely new tourism trends. New tourism trends are pioneered by developed countries or developing countries in the tourism industry. In this paper, new tourism trends around the world are analyzed by looking at tourism reports, strategies, sectoral evaluations, and governmental plans of these countries. They are limited as to top ten the most tourist attractedcountries from the past to the present according to the 2015 World Tourism Organization tourism report. Tourism trends in Turkey, as the sixth most attracted country on the list, are analyzed here. In addition to these findings, new trends in tourism will be analyzed and discussed as to whether they can adapt in Turkey. This study will be the first study in tourism literature since 1995. Keywords: Turkey, New Tourism Trends, Big Five, Halal Tourism, PANKS

Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 2023

Bu çalışma, Cumhuriyet Dönemi'nde uygulanan beş yıllık kalkınma planlarının Türkiye'deki turizm sektörü üzerindeki etkisinin kapsamlı bir analizini sunmaktadır. Cumhuriyet Dönemi'nde uygulanan beş yıllık kalkınma planlarında turizm gelirleri ve turist sayısı sürekli bir artış eğiliminde olmasına rağmen, Türkiye beş yıllık kalkınma planlarında belirlenen hedeflere tam olarak ulaşamamıştır. Bu makalenin temel amacı, Türkiye'nin Cumhuriyet Dönemi kalkınma planlarını analiz etmek ve sıklıkla vurgulanan ve yeterince vurgulanmayan hedefleri belirlemektir. Bu çalışmada karma bir metodoloji kullanılmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında resmî kurumlardan ikincil veriler toplanmıştır. Bu veriler trend analizine tabi tutularak her beş yıllık kalkınma planı dönemi için ortalama turist sayısı ve turizm gelirleri hesaplanmıştır. Araştırmanın ikinci aşamasında kalkınma planları içerik analizi ile incelenmiş ve temalar belirlenmiştir. Bu kapsamda ağ haritası ve kelime bulutu oluşturulmuştur. Sonuç olarak, Türkiye'nin beş yıllık kalkınma planlarında en çok "sürdürülebilirlik" konusuna vurgu yaptığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Bunun yanı sıra altyapı, ulaşım ve turizm olanaklarının çeşitlendirilmesi beş yıllık kalkınma planlarında vurgulanan diğer temalar olarak tespit edilmiştir. Son olarak, bir yapay zekâ modelleme sistemi olan Chat GPT'ye Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nde turizm sektörünün geleceği hakkında bir soru sorulmuştur. Elde edilen sonuçlar teknoloji, dijitalleşme, yapay zekâ, istatistik, veri toplama, bilimsel çalışmalar, iklim değişikliği, sürdürülebilirlik, istihdam, eğitim ve kriz yönetimi gibi konulara kalkınma planlarında daha çok vurgu yapılması gerektiği tespit edildi.

People's material and spiritual progress in terms of living qualities and increase of social welfare by the development of economic, social, educational and political structures, depends on a country's development. While financial development influence tourism, the advances in tourism also affect the financial progress. Today, tourism is considered to be significant at the development plans due to its contributions to the rural development, its warning influence on investments, providing employment and income in Turkey. Every five years in Turkey development plans prepared since 1963 and these plans comprises mandatory targets for public investment and guiding objectives for private investments. The expected objectives were not achieved in the five-year development plan between 1963-1983 due to political and economic instability in Turkey. But between the years 1983-2012, some positive developments have been occured in the tourism of Turkey. With the increase of tourism investments in Turkey after 1983, the number of tourists and tourism income have increased significantly. While Turkey was 20th in the world in terms of number of tourists in 2000 and 14th in terms of tourism revenues, It has become one of the world's most preferred destinations rising to 10th place in terms of tourism revenues, and 6th in the number of tourists in 2012. The contribution of the five-year plans in this development is important.

Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 2014

Turkey has seen an overall increase in both international tourist arrivals and receipts over the past decade. While this would normally be seen unequivocally as a good news story, the simple facts may be deceiving. Although tourist arrival figures and tourism receipts are still increasing, there has been a decline in the rate of growth of both. Moreover, the rate of growth for tourism receipts has decreased more than the rate of growth for tourist arrivals. If this trend continues, it is likely to create a situation where one could begin to question the future economic sustainability of Turkey's tourism industry. Is this reduction in the rate of growth a sign that Turkey has reached the consolidation stage of the destination life cycle or, even worse, the stagnation stage? This regional spotlight takes a historical look at Turkey's nine 'five-year-development plans' and identifies the factors that have caused the rate of growth of tourism receipts to decline. The paper then focuses on how the 'Tourism Strategy of Turkey -2023' might assist in slowing down, arresting or even reversing this rate of decline. This regional spotlight provides insight to practitioners and academics on how tourism development policies can directly influence the growth of tourism receipts in mature, mass-market tourist destinations.